Welcome to Helsingborg, a city that may well represent Sweden’s commitment to renewable bioenergy.

Eighth largest city in Sweden and one of the oldest in the Nordics, Helsingborg has an “historic” bioenergy past. In April 1998, the world’s first ever transatlantic shipment of wood pellets arrived at municipal energy utility Öresundskraft’s quayside Västhamnsverket combined heat and power (CHP) plant from Canada, thus paving the way for today’s district heating defossilisation. The plant was originally designed for oil but was soon converted to coal, then in 1996 to pellets with the last coal burnt in 2006.

Helsingborg at the centre of European bioenergy and biochar maps

On the outskirts of Helsinborg there is Filborna, which hosts several bioenergy facilities. Öresundskraft operates there Fibornaverket, a waste-to-energy plant which will soon be equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Moreover, the company has secured permits, national and EU grants for the site. This puts Helsingborg at the centre of European bioenergy also for its innovations. Not far, Nordvästra Skånes Renhållnings AB (NSR) operates a biogas plant which produces up to 80 GWh per annum of biomethane. The Biomethane aka renewable natural gas (RNG), is injected into a low-pressure gas grid.

Additionally, NSR manages Sweden’s largest of-its-kind biochar plant, inaugurated in June 2022. This  Pyrolysis Carbon Capture and Sequestration (PyCCS) unit transforms up to 7,000 tonnes per annum of green yard biowaste into biochar and energy for district heat.

Finally, the NSR site has an educational hub, with a state-of-the-art Biochar Competence Centre. The hub includes a visitors‘ centre, as well as a laboratory and small-scale pyrolysis reactor for applied research and feedstock testing.

As can be seen, Helsingborg’s transition from oil and coal to bioenergy reflects its dedication to sustainable solutions. From the early wood pellet shipments to the CHP and biogas plants, and now the biochar hub, the city can be put at the centre of European bioenergy and biochar maps.